Passing The Torch
by thunderyoshi
Summary: Ari can't be the Gold Ranger forever, she knows that. She has a family and a career, and monsters aren't going to sit back and relax. That's what Antonio is there for. He's the Gold Samurai Ranger, and it's their job to protect Panorama City. But they aren't alone, and they aren't the first.


**So I came up with this idea a little while ago, but have been too busy to finish it until now. This is set two years after Spencer is born, right before Chapter 7 of Shining Legacy (Which hasn't been posted yet) so I hope you like it!  
**

 **Let me know what you think!**

* * *

Passing The Torch

The sun blazed overhead, reaching its peak in the sky. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, and plenty of people were taking advantage of the pleasant day. One in particular was the self-appointed Gold Samurai Ranger, who had decided to spend his day off from training, fishing.

With music blaring in his ears, Antonio walked along the pier to find his favourite spot, away from the crowds and other fishers. He hummed along as he easily made his way along, not paying attention to what was going on around him.

"Whoa, watch out!" he didn't hear the yell, which was immediately followed by someone crashing into him. The young man tumbled to the ground, his fishing gear toppling, and would have fallen on him, had someone not caught it.

"That was so not fantastico..." the Samurai groaned.

"You alright?" Antonio opened his eyes and found a young girl on the ground in front of him, with long blonde hair mostly hidden under a helmet. Helping her up was a woman who didn't appear too much older than he was, checking her for injuries. "Krista, I've told you to be careful. Your dad will kick my butt if you get hurt," the woman scolded, brushing her black hair from her eyes. Antonio blinked, watching her curiously. She wore a pair of jeans that stopped just after the knees, and a green short sleeved shirt.

"Sorry Aunt Ari..." the girl mumbled, but seemed unharmed. With a sigh of relief, the woman glanced to the casualty.

"You okay dude?" she asked as she approached him.

"Huh? Me? I'm great! Had way worse hits than that!" Antonio smiled at her, and took her outstretched hand.

"Glad you're okay," she laughed, helping him up. "Sorry about that. I've been teaching my niece to skate, and she's about as good as I was when I started," the woman grinned, and Krista blushed, standing beside a stroller with a baby in it, fast asleep.

"Sorry," Krista blushed even harder as she glanced at Antonio and away again. With a grin, Antonio knelt in front of her.

"It's quite alright chika, are you okay?" he asked her kindly. Krista nodded, not speaking as she ducked away from him.

"Don't take it personally, she's a little weird," Antonio smiled again as he stood up. "I'm Ari Bly, by the way," she introduced herself, holding out her hand.

"Antonio Garcia," the fisherman shook it. "I've not seen you about here before, and I'm here every day," he grinned at her. Ari laughed.

"We're just here for the day. There's a skate demo and offered to take my niece out for a bit before it starts," she explained. "Your fishing cart seems okay by the way," Antonio's eyes widened as he remembered it, and looked around quickly to the cart. He opened it, taking care to keep the inside hidden from Ari, and breathed a sigh of relief. The Octopus Zord swam about, looking a little dazed but okay.

"Thanks," he looked up. Ari's eyes moved from the cart, to him.

"No problem dude, the least I could do when my niece is trying to take you out," she shrugged, before her eyes lit up. "Oh!" she darted over to the stroller and rooted through the bag hanging from it. "As an apology," she held out several tickets.

"You don't need to-"

"I insist. I have a buttload of these for the demo and my friends bailed for work. Do you and your friends like skating?" she asked with a grin.

"One of my friends is super into it," Antonio instantly thought of Mike. He'd be psyched to get tickets to a skateboarding demo.

"Great!" Ari smiled. "You don't need to show, but if you want, they're there. Just mention my name and they'll let you in the VIP section" she told him. Antonio nodded as she walked back over to the stroller, checking on her sleeping son before ruffling Krista's hair. As she did, he noticed a tattoo on her arm, completely black in colour and an odd shape, as if some kind of symbol. "Show starts at three by the way! I'll catch you later!" Ari called, waving before pushing the stroller off. Krista followed, carrying the skateboard in her arms.

"Huh..." Antonio murmured as he watched her leave, and the tiny Zord in the tank peeked out. "There's something weirdly familiar about her, little buddy," he mused, and looked down at the tickets in his hands.

* * *

To say that the Green Samurai Ranger was psyched was an understatement.

Master Ji had already offered the group the day off, and when Antonio had returned early with enough tickets for them all to go see the skate demo in town, Mike's day had only gotten better. Especially since the entire time had agreed to go. Even Kevin had been interested in the demo, and somehow Antonio had managed to get them into the VIP section.

"This is so exciting!" Emily smiled as she looked around the bustling crowd who were setting up.

"I didn't realise there was so much interest in skateboarding," Jayden commented, looking around as a couple of young men skated past.

"Are you kidding?" Mike looked at him incredulously. "It's huge! This is gonna be amazing, I heard Andrew Hartford is even going to be here!" he exclaimed.

"Calm down Mike," Mia laughed, amused by the Forest Samurai's excitement.

"Who's Andrew Hartford?" Emily asked him curiously, never having heard of him.

"He's this really rich guy, he owns practically everything," Kevin explained.

"Almost everything," they looked around to a man with blond hair and blue eyes. He grinned at the group, and Antonio spotted the little girl hiding behind his legs.

"Chika!" he smiled, and she hid behind the man.

"Ah, so you're Antonio. I hear my daughter tried to become a wrecking ball," the man grinned.

"It was fine, no harm done," Antonio shook his head quickly as the others glanced to him, curious. "I'm just glad the little chika is okay," he smiled to Krista, and the 8 year old ducked behind his legs again.

"She has as hard a head as her aunt, which is thankfully very hard," the man laughed, and held out his hand. "I'm Joe. If you guys need anything, give me a shout," he shook Antonio's hand.

"Are you in charge here?" Mike asked him curiously.

"Not at all," Joe shook his head, looking to the boy in green. He paused for a moment, looking from one to the other. His eyebrow rose slightly, before his smile grew. "My sister is-"

"Hey Joe!" they looked over to the young man with dark hair, wearing a red shirt and skating gear. "It's about to start, can you take Spence?" the man pushed a stroller over, and the infant, who was almost two years old, looked up at the crowd.

"Sure thing Shane. Good luck," Joe told him. Shane grinned confidently back.

"Thanks man," he jogged off.

"Wait, was that...that was Shane Clarke!" Mike realised, earning several looks. "He's a star, but he doesn't show at demos often," he told his confused friends.

"He's an old friend of my sister's," Joe told him, crouching down beside Spencer. The toddler broke into a wide smile as soon as he saw him.

"Aw, he's so cute!" Mia and Emily both cooed, instantly in love with the green eyed boy.

"He's my nephew, Spencer," Joe told them as they crouched in front of the little boy, who smiled back at them brightly. "He's a bit of a ladies man, just like his father, so watch out," the man warned with a laugh, before checking his watch. "The show's about to start, so if you just want to head over there," Joe pointed to the seats. "I'll catch you later. Enjoy the show," he said as he led his daughter away, pushing the stroller.

"Thanks!" the Rangers called.

"Spencer was so cute," Mia gushed.

"Girls..." Mike rolled his eyes.

"Come on, let's check it out," Jayden smiled in amusement at his team.

* * *

Another wave of applause rang through the air as Shane waved at the end of his demonstration, before skating off.

"This is so awesome!" Mike cheered loudly.

"It is pretty cool," Kevin admitted. He had been won over by the skilled skaters who showed off impressive moves, to the thrill of their crowd.

"Those moves were fantastico!" Antonio had been completely pulled into the hype of the crowd.

"Yeah they were! That guy Shane was amazing, it was like he was flying," Mia smiled at the idea. "I'd love to move like that," she told them.

"You kinda do already," Emily smiled at her, and Mia blushed.

"No way!" the Pink Ranger shook her head. "I'm nowhere near that cool," she insisted humbly, her face warm.

"You so are," Emily told her confidently. Before Mia could argue, there was another announcement.

" _Now, please welcome our star! This will be her last show for a while, so we hope you enjoy_!" the announcer called. " _Please welcome Ari Bly_!" the crowd began cheering again.

"No way!" Mike yelled.

"What's wrong?" Kevin asked as he glanced from the woman in her twenties skated into view.

"It's Ari Raynes! She's incredible!" Mike told him, practically bouncing with excitement. "I've been following her and Truth Trucks for ages!" he exclaimed.

"That's her!" they looked to Antonio at his own shout. "She's the one who gave me the tickets," he told them.

"You _met_ Ari Raynes?" Mike gaped at him. Antonio nodded. "Dude..." he breathed.

"Guys," Jayden laughed, pointing. "It's starting," he told them. Their attention turned back to the woman, but as she went to begin, there was a loud wail from a child that caught her attention. As it did, the Rangers' Morphers beeped.

"Oh no!" Emily gasped, before the ground began to shake. Screams echoed from the crowd, and Moogers made themselves known, chasing away the terrified civilians.

"Come on Rangers," Jayden immediately took charge, and the Samurai ran to find a quiet spot. Ducking out of sight, they drew their Samuraizers.

"GO GO SAMURAI!" they Morphed and ran back out, calling on their weapons to fight off the footsoldiers. They were alarmed at the size of the group of Moogers, who vastly outnumbered anyone who remained in the skatepark.

"Why are there so many?" Mike yelled as they ran over to help the terrified people.

"Let's just focus on helping these people first," Jayden ordered as he cut through several monsters with his sword. He then ran into a large group, cutting through any in his path to help a terrified group of skaters.

Emily flipped over the head of one, twirling and cutting down its back with her Shuriken as she landed easily. She looked around, wondering about the large amount herself, when she heard another cry. Looking around, her eyes widened when she spotted the man who had spoken to them before, standing in front of his daughter and nephew. The toddler was crying loudly, and the blonde girl was cuddling him close, whispering to him.

Joe cursed as he backed up from the Moogers, almost stepping on his daughter. Spencer just cried louder.

"Daddy, what's going on?" Krista's voice shook as she peeked out from behind him.

"It's fine sweetheart," Joe slowly reached into his pocket. "Just don't tell your mother I've been carrying these about," he told her, lifting two bottles from inside his jacket. Uncorking them, he threw the contents at the Moogers, who squealed in alarm and stumbled back. "Best take your medicine now," Joe smirked, holding out his hand. It began to glow golden, and the liquid began to do the same. The Moogers squealed again, but this time in pain, and shattered. More Moogers approached, and Joe cursed.

"Watch out!" his eyes widened when Emily leapt in and cut through them, standing in front of him. "How did you do that?" she asked him in awe, having seen the whole thing.

"I'll explain afterwards, there's too many of these things about to take a break," Joe told her. Emily nodded, turning back to the group. She attacked again, but soon found herself surrounded.

"Oh no!" she cried as her weapon was knocked from her hand. She fought them off as best she could, before one grabbed her wrist.

"Excuse me," there was a tap on the Mooger's shoulder, and it looked around with a grunt. It paused, its grip on Emily slackening, before a fist collided with its face and it was knocked away. Emily whirled around, her eyes growing wide as a figure in golden armour lined with silver. It was completely different to anything she had seen before. A long sword was in her hand, being used to cut through the Moogers with ease, and when one leapt at her from behind, she threw up her other hand, and a golden ball of energy flickered to life, flying from her hand and slamming into the Mooger. It exploded on contact, and the Mooger fell to the ground, burnt.

"Who...who are you...?" Emily asked, stunned. The figure, a woman, turned to her. Her helmet and boots had wings designed down the sides, and across the chest plate was a large sun symbol.

"I'm here to help," the woman told her, spinning suddenly and kicking back the Mooger creeping up in her. She then crouched, and lifted Emily's fallen weapon. "Here. We can talk after," she told her.

"Thanks," Emily smiled as she took the weapon from her. The two began to fight again, as the mysterious figure alternated between using her sword, and the strange golden energy as she easily cut down the Moogers around her.

"What?!" Kevin gasped when he noticed her move past him. She didn't stop to talk, using another energy-ball to knock a Mooger away from Antonio. He looked around sharply, and his eyes grew wide.

"No way!" he yelled as he saw the strange Ranger helping lower the number of Moogers drastically.

"Come on Rangers, we need to stop these guys once and for all!" Jayden refused to be distracted, despite his own shock over seeing the newcomer. The others nodded, regrouping and continuing to fight.

"But who is she?" Mia asked curiously as she stood with Kevin.

"She's the Mysterious Gold Ranger!" Antonio exclaimed as he stood nearby with his Barracuda Blade, cutting down any that got close.

"Wait, you mean that Ranger who helped out like four different teams?" Mike asked in surprise, hearing their Gold Samurai's words.

"Five, actually," he glanced around as the Ranger walked past them, holding up her sword. "And for the record, I hate that name," she told them as she began to glow. "With the Power of the Sun!" she called as the golden aura surrounding her grew brighter. "Shining Sun Attack!" she swung her sword as the golden light covered it as well. The light shot out and slammed into the remaining Moogers, destroying them in a massive explosion.

"Whoa..." Emily breathed, her eyes even wider as the smoke cleared to reveal that the Moogers were gone. "Thanks for the-" she stopped when she found that their helper had vanished.

"Where'd she go?" Kevin asked, looking around.

"There!" Jayden spotted her approaching Joe and the two children, checking Spencer, who was no longer crying but instead smiling brightly up at her. She ruffled his hair, before straightening up, resting a hand on Joe's arm.

"Hey!" Antonio called as he rushed over.

"So much for not carrying potions around any more," he heard the Ranger laugh to Joe.

"Yeah well, we were going to a city currently under attack from monsters. I've learned to be a little prepared," he shrugged, not looking ashamed in the slightest. "At least now I have some decent results to pass on to Chip and Claire," Joe mused.

"The three of you are ridiculous," she sighed. Joe just grinned, before Krista tugged on his jacket and pointed. They glanced around, and found the Samurai Rangers approaching.

"Thanks for the help," the Yellow Ranger smiled brightly at her.

"Yeah, it was definitely appreciated," Mike nodded.

"No problem. It's what I do," she shrugged in response.

"Who are you exactly? I've never seen a suit like yours before," Jayden spoke softly, watching the Gold Ranger curiously. She gave a small laugh.

"I'm not surprised. I've only worn this suit a few times, and only a few of those times would have been caught on TV," she told them, before letting the suit shatter. The Samurai jolted in alarm as they recognised the black haired woman, whose green eyes were filled with amusement as she watched them.

"You're...you're..." Mike breathed heavily as he stared at her.

"You're that skateboarder we saw earlier!" Kevin accused.

"You're the one who gave me the tickets!" Antonio exclaimed, demorphing. Ari's amused look dropped for her surprise.

"Antonio? You're the new Gold Ranger?" she asked in surprise, tilting her head.

"And you're the Mysterious Gold Ranger!" Antonio stared back at her. "You're incredible! Five different teams, and you kicked butt every time!" his words made Ari blush as Joe chuckled. "You're the reason I chose Gold as my colour," he admitted. Ari's blush grew darker.

"Well Ari? How is he for your successor?" Joe asked, watching her with amusement. Ari glanced from him, back to Antonio, who suddenly felt awkward as she seemed to scrutinise him with her green gaze. After a moment, she gave a thumbs up.

"I approve," she decided with a grin.

"Thanks for the help out there," Jayden thanked her, and Ari smiled at him.

"It's cool dude. Like I said, it's what I do. Never quite able to kick the Ranger habit. Once a Ranger, Always a Ranger and all that," Ari told him with a chuckle. "I am sorry though. I think the reason there were so many of those monsters about was because of us," she explained.

"You? How?" Kevin asked, confused.

"Monsters are generally a lot more in tune with magic than humans are," Joe explained as Ari crouched to lift her son from his pram. "We're all practitioners, and Ari was one of the Mystic Rangers, and has a lot of magical energy that monsters sense," he told them.

"Same with Spence, he's got a lot of power as well," Ari nodded as she bounced her son in her arms. "So when we got here, gathered around, we probably attracted them all here. It's always a risk, going to cities with monster attacks," she explained with a small sigh.

"You helped us out, that's all that matters. And besides, defeating the Moogers is what we do," Jayden told her, making Ari's smile grow.

"Hey guys!" they looked around as Shane jogged over, his face shimmering with sweat.

"Everyone get evacuated okay?" Ari asked when he slowed, seeing the strangers.

"Yeah, no casualties. What's going on?" the man asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's cool Shane, they're the Samurai Rangers," Ari told him, and he looked at them in surprise as they froze. "Shane was the Red Ranger for the Ninja Storm Rangers. Ninja of Air," she explained. He nodded with a confident smile.

"Wow, so that's why it looked like you were flying," Mia breathed in awe. Shane grinned at her. "I wish I could be that good," she sighed.

"A lot of practice," he told her. "And from what I've seen, you're pretty good yourself," Mia flushed at the praise. "So who's this Gold Ari's been on about?" Shane asked, and they all glanced to Antonio, who once found himself being scrutinised. "Ari got pretty excited when she saw a new Gold Ranger out there. Well...at least you seem a decent age to be a Ranger," he smirked.

"You're hysterical Shane," Ari rolled her eyes.

"How old were you?" Emily asked her curiously.

"I was 15 when I became the Gold Ninja Storm Ranger," Ari told the girl, who didn't seem much older than Ari had been when she first became a Ranger. "We better go, people will ask questions if we hang about here," she realised.

"Thanks again for the help," Jayden nodded to her.

"You're welcome," Ari smiled. "Here, take this," she held out a card. "It's my number. If you need any help, just call. I won't be able to help you myself at the moment, but like I said, Once a Ranger, Always a Ranger. Someone will help, if you just ask," she told them.

"Thanks," Jayden took the card from her.

"Why wouldn't you be able to help?" Antonio asked, and Ari gave a small smile.

"The same reason why my husband isn't gonna be happy that I was fighting today, and why today is my last demo for a while. I'm pregnant," she admitted, blushing.

"Wow! Congratulations!" Mia and Emily chorused.

"Thanks," Ari smiled back.

"Thanks," Spencer mimicked, and they almost squealed in delight as he smiled at them.

"It was nice meeting you," Ari told the group. "I've been wanting to for a while, but I hung up my Morpher for a reason. You guys seem to have it handled," she told them confidently as she crouched to return Spencer to his pram. He wriggled, but got comfortable and grabbed for the plush cow Ari held out for him.

"It was amazing meeting you too. We've never met another Ranger before," Mia admitted.

"Then I'm so sorry it was Ari," Shane smirked, earning a punch to the shoulder.

"Remember when Xander punched you for making her cry, Shane? I'd be careful," Joe grinned, and Shane put a hand to his nose, still remembering it. Ari laughed, and turned to Antonio. His dark eyes went wide at her smile.

"I'm glad you're my successor, Antonio. The Gold Ranger is the spirit of the team, and I can tell you'll definitely live up to my rep," she told him. The newer Gold Ranger went red at her words. Ari just grinned back at him and with a quick goodbye, the group walked off.

"She is so cool," Antonio sighed.

"Sounds like someone has a crush," Mia teased him.

"No way!" Antonio insisted, but went red as the others laughed.

"Hey wait!" Mike finally spoke, running after the three. "Can...can I have your autograph?" he managed to ask the surprised woman. The other Samurai started to laugh at the Green Ranger, who was rambling to Ari as she blinked at him, surprised.

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